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The mum of murder victim Andre Aderemi has questioned the influence violent lyrics in music has on young men.

Yemi Hughes, 38, says parents should monitor what their children are listening to, including some grime, after hearing one of her younger sons repeating some "negative" lyrics and hearing a track which talked about "shanking" someone.

Her son Andre Aderemi, who was 19 and the eldest of three brothers, was killed by four youths on the Monks Hill estate in Selsdon last summer.

She speaks to young people all the time because of her job working in a school and wants parents to be aware that the versions of songs they may hear on the radio are not necessarily the versions their children will actually be listening to.

Mrs Hughes, who works at Oasis Academy Shirley Park, said: "I know it's hard trying to say don't listen to this type of music but, for me, I've seen it with my younger two.

"A lot of it is not what we hear on the radio, even though it's the same, that grime music.

"Obviously it's been edited [to be] suitable for the radio, but what they are actually listening to is via YouTube and those types of channels.

"For me it's like a chant. If you say something over and over in your head, it becomes so simple for you to say.

"A lot of them are singing the songs, they are not actually thinking about the lyric behind what is being said. My little boy can actually sing some of those grime songs."

Andre Aderemi was killed by four young men in Selsdon last year

Mrs Hughes says when she then asks her son what the lyrics mean, he does not know.

She added: "They [artists] are actually saying 'I can pull out a knife and shank someone'. For a child to be singing that, when it gets to that point, they can then just pull out a knife then shank somebody because they've said it so many times in their head, it's become their reality.

"Those people that are listening to your music and thinking this is really good, they are going to follow suit and think that's OK."

She would like to see more music being made with the same rhythm but "more positive messages" for young people.

Mrs Hughes, who had her eldest son when she was 17, said because she is a young mum and has worked with young people, she recognises more easily than some parents may what is being said in these tracks.

She said: "To other parents, they may not understand what is being said. They are just hearing them playing this music that is quite annoying and telling them to turn it off.

"But they've [then] got the earphones in. So, it [stopping children being influenced negatively by music] is a lot to [do] with monitoring. You can't turn a blind eye and be in denial."

Mrs Hughes is working with police in Croydon to help tackle serious youth violence and knife crime, after a spike in offences earlier this year.

Working in a school, she says she sees young men's behaviour change – in the way they dress, stop being engaged in lessons, come to school tired and change their goals and aspirations.

"It's that 'I don't care' attitude," she said. "They've found something else that is engaging them more.

"I didn't really see that type of change in Andre because Andre did do well at school, he did go to college, he did do all of those things. He trained as a football coach until he broke his leg. He was like, 'what do I do? I can't play football', so he just started to hang about.

"But I think his scenario was slightly different to the everyday kind of scenario we see, the real root of these problems we are seeing."

Yemi Hughes speaking outside the Old Bailey after three out of the four of her son's killers were sentenced

Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe, Croydon's borough commander, has put together a plan with Croydon Council to find community groups who can help steer youngsters away from crime, and give them positives to focus on.

He believes young men carry knives through a mixture of "fear" and wanting "what they call respect".

While he thinks it is good for young people to have positive role models such as actors, sportsmen and musicians he also believes they need to be prepared better for if they cannot fulfill their ultimate ambition.

He added: "They don't realise how few actually make it to the top.

"They don't have a plan B, so if somebody aspires to be a sportsperson and they don't make it, for a lot of them they don't have that plan B and therefore there isn't that support network to say to them 'right, you've haven't made it here, but let's channel your efforts somewhere else in a positive light'.

"It's about being able to provide them with that network when they are on the cusp of where do they go now, where a gang will be quick money. Rather than them going down that road give them some other alternative where they think, 'OK, with a bit of hard work I can do something'."

*Over the coming weeks we will be writing about different aspects of serious youth violence and knife crime within Croydon. We want to know your views. Have you, your child or someone you know been involved in knife crime either as a victim or a perpetrator? Email your views to samantha.booth@croydonadvertiser.co.uk